A common city pigeon takes on the fastest animal on the planet, the peregrine falcon. A mountain hare tries to outrun the massive golden eagle and an osprey has its sharp sights set on a very slippery fish, the flounder.
Steve Backshall recreates three incredible hunts by some of the world's deadliest dogs, analysing the techniques and tactics of both predator and prey in forensic detail, to reveal why hunts sometime succeed and why they sometimes fail. A pack of grey wolves use canine intelligence to take on a massive antler-armed elk. The rare Ethiopian wolf sniffs out a huge burrowing rodent, the giant mole rat, and African wild dogs match stamina against the pace of the impala.
A giant tiger shark tries to surprise an unsuspecting seabird - the albatross; the electrifying torpedo ray hunts for an elusive reef fish and a brave seal goes up against the world's largest underwater predator, the great white shark.
Three hunts from the miniature world of wasps and spiders are analysed in this episode. A Spoor Spider hunts Dune Ants twice its size using a cloak of invisibility. Thirty Japanese Giant Hornets battle thirty thousand Honeybees. And a Parasitic Wasp hunts down a Golden Wheeling Spider to use as live food for its unborn baby. Three predators, three prey, who will emerge victorious?
The Nile crocodile tries to surprise an unsuspecting group of wildebeest and the acrobatic caiman hunts the most dangerous fish in the sea, the piranha. And the Australian fruit bat goes up against the world's largest crocodile, the salt water crocodile.
Steve Backshall analyses three hunts from the bear family. A polar bear tracks down a ringed seal in the frozen, barren Arctic Circle. A sloth bear sniffs out a meal using its ingenious snout for sucking up juicy termites. And a grizzly bear tries to catch a slippery salmon in the rivers of Alaska. Three predators. Three prey. Who will emerge victorious?
Steve analyses three hunts by the world's deadliest whales and dolphins. A pod of dolphins launch a mass attack on a huge shoal of sardines, a killer whale uses cunning to hunt the largest sea lion in the ocean, and a group of humpbacks employ an incredible hunting technique against a dazzling shoal of herrings.
Steve analyses three hunts from the amazing world of flying predators. The emperor dragonfly chases down its closely related cousin, the damselfly, at incredible speeds. The Daubenton's bat uses sound to see in pitch black to hunt yellow underwing moths. And a kestrel uses its hovering flight and super-sensitive vision to try and locate field voles beside a busy motorway. Three predators. Three prey. Who will emerge victorious?
Steve analyses three hunts from the amazing world of snakes. A highly venomous puff adder lays an ambush for a resourceful striped mouse, a six metre long African rock python tries to bring down a sprinting springbok, and a banded sand snake takes on another desert warrior - the scorpion.
Steve analyses three hunts from the high canopies of the tree-top world of arboreal hunters. A fossa hunts a sifaka lemur using its expert climbing skills. A leopard tracks down a troop of baboons using its incredible night vision. And a group of chimpanzees work like a crack commando unit to hunt colobus monkeys to feed the family. Three predators. Three prey. Who will emerge victorious?
Steve analyses three hunts from the scaly world of lizards. A Jackson's chameleon uses its enormous tongue to hunt down a praying mantis. The world's largest living lizard, the Komodo dragon, uses a toxic bite to try and bring down a water buffalo ten times its size. And Steve goes into the upside-down world of the tokay gecko, which uses its incredibly sticky feet to defy gravity in its hunt for moths. Three predators. Three prey. Who will emerge victorious?
Steve recreates three incredible hunts by cephalopods, strange alien-like creatures of the deep, analysing the techniques and tactics of both predator and prey in forensic detail to reveal why hunts sometimes succeed and sometimes fail. A resourceful octopus tries to crack a crab's armour, hundreds of Humboldt squid launch a mass attack on a huge shoal of open water fish and a pulsating cuttlefish uses its powers of disguise to try creep up on a near-invisible shrimp.
Steve Backshall recreates three incredible hunts by some of the world's deadliest big cats. A gazelle takes on the fastest land animal on the planet, the cheetah. The majestic tiger tracks down a group of chital deer with its super stealth. And a pride of lionesses uses cat intelligence to hunt a kicking, boxing zebra. Three predators. Three prey. Who will emerge victorious?